Parted
by Takianna
Summary: This is an Obidala story. If you do not like Obidala please stop reading now. This will be a multi-chapter story, but please be warned updates may have long periods of time in between them. I write for a living and sometimes I can't write one more word.


A kiss, just a small touching of lips brought back all the memories of days spent leisurely laying in bed together. A kiss, stolen between two people desperate to spend those last few seconds in each other's embrace, but pulled apart so quickly.

It was a kiss which fell on his lips too quickly and walked away too easily. It was always too quickly.

How he wished that he was back there now, instead of standing in the middle of the jedi council chambers, receiving yet another set of orders to put out a fire somewhere in the galaxy. Somewhere that he didn't care about and still had to find a way to solve a conflict. Usually fighting

"Master Kenobi," Yoda said and nodded his dismissal to the younger jedi. He always seemed to have an impish grin, even during the most serious of times.

"Yes Master Yoda," Obi-wan said bowing and turning on booted heel to walk towards the door. Dismissed and ready to head out again on another long space journey. He hated flying. It was something he would never get over and being in the midst of continued conflict, he still hated it even more.

They had pulled him from the bed of the one he loved for this, to tell him that he was heading off again and leaving her in the trail of cosmic dust which poured from engines in space. He was not happy.

"What did they say?" Anakin asked anxiously as he fell into step with Obi-wan just outside of the chamber. The marble thudded under their boots as they walked through the cavernous halls of the temple. Obi-wan felt so very alone even among all the people kept within the walls there. That was a new feeling. He had always felt so at home in the temple before her.

"We are heading off to the campaign near Yavin," Obi-wan said, not turning to look at his former padawan as he strode purposefully down the hall.

"I'll take care of all the prep work," Anakin said and the older jedi swore he saw a smile cross the young man's face. That was what was happening to the younger jedi in the temple, they were craving excitement and that wasn't what jedi were supposed to want. They wanted peace. They wanted harmony between all people of the galaxy and the force.

"I'll meet you at the cruiser near departure time," Obi-wan said and handed Anakin the chip that held all of the information about the departure times and required ordinance for the ship.

Wrapping his robe around him, Obi-wan hurried to the nearest turbolift, there was somewhere he needed to be and someone he needed to say goodbye to. You never knew if this was the last time you would be able to utter those words. It was a hard truth for both of them, but they both knew he had a duty to the republic, just as she did.

"Yavin?" Padme asked her eyes brimming with tears that threatened to pour down her cheeks. "That's one of the most disputed areas right now Obi-wan. You can't go."

"I can and I have to," Obi-wan said keeping his emotions as much in check as he could. The sight of her eyes filling with tears was hard for him to see. She sniffled. His heart sank. He was a disappointment that would never end for her. He would always be continued heartbreak. He was making her suffer.

They hadn't been together very long, although Obi-wan and Padme had known each other for many years. Obi-wan had always pushed the emotions he felt down and tried to be the jedi that he was meant to be, that he was supposed to be, but when someone threatened her life and she was almost killed, he let those emotions go. He came to her in the night, confessing all the things he felt in his heart.

They had only been physically intimate twice in the whole time they had been together as a couple, although he wished it was more often. Padme often said that she didn't want to rush things with him and he had to respect what she wanted, although his body ached to be near her. They would have all the time in the galaxy, or so they thought. He just had to keep telling himself that she was the reason he had to come home. It was the only thing that was keeping him going.

As the skirmishes darkened, Obi-wan had been off planet more than he had been on and it was taking a toll on their relationship. Being secretive had already put them both in a place that was difficult, but with the constant separation, he now felt all those things that attachment brought with them. It was all the things that the jedi feared most, but Obi-wan faced them head on.

"I know that you are capable," Padme said wiping the tears from under her eyes with her fingers. "That isn't what I meant."

"I know what you meant. You don't have to say anything at all," Obi-wan said and pulled her close to his chest, holding her tightly, trying to remember every single thing about her from the smell of her soap to the beating of her heart. If he was going to be facing death, this is what he wanted to remember the most out of everything.

"Come back to me," Padme said her voice choked with the thickness of tears. Without a word, Obi-wan bent his head and let his lips press gently against her lips. He savored the kiss. It was the kiss that would bring him home.

"_So you don't even know where you are from?" Padme asked stroking his cheek gently as they nestled on the balcony together, cuddling against the night air._

"_No," Obi-wan said shaking his head. "I don't know that I ever wanted to find out either."_

"_Everyone should want to know where they came from," she smiled at him and moved closer, kissing his cheek._

"_If I don't know," Obi-wan said evenly, "then I won't know what I've missed. When you are a younger jedi, you often wonder who your parents were and where you are from. I stopped wondering a very long time ago."_

He awoke suddenly, shaking his head to try and clear it. Obi-wan's dreams had been filled with memories of the time he had spent with Padme. He missed her, but duty kept him here, fighting.

A loud crack outside the tent he was sleeping in, made him bolt from his cot and call his lightsaber quickly to his hand. It smacked into his palm with a reassuring sound and he walked towards the flap of the tent.

The shelling was coming so much closer now and with the constant dreams about Padme, he was having a very difficult time sleeping anymore.

"Dreams pass in time," he heard from his right and turned to look at Anakin who was standing next to the tent with his lightsaber in hand. The younger jedi's eyes were looking towards the heavens and Obi-wan wasn't even sure he had spoken at all.

Drawing in a long breath, Obi-wan looked towards the sky as well and wondered where she was and what she was doing. He was sure that somewhere she was worrying about him, although he had tried to calm her fears about leaving, he was sure that she still was worried. Setting his jaw against the thought of her crying alone in her bed, he resolved to at least contact her tomorrow. Cody could get him an encrypted line to anywhere and keep his mouth shut about it. That was what was good about the clones, they knew when to mind their own business. In this case, Obi-wan was thankful for the fact that the clone knew what was good for him and wouldn't breath a word about who Obi-wan was calling.

"Looks like sleep isn't for us tonight," Anakin said and pointed towards the sky where several dropships were beginning their approach to the landing area of camp. Obi-wan's eyes followed the younger jedi's finger and picked out the moving craft against the blackness of the starless sky. The smoke from bombing runs and constant shelling had long ago blacked out the tiny speckles of other systems from the sky leaving behind a black, oily landscape for the ships to arrive against.

"Great," Obi-wan said in a low voice and turned back towards his tent where his armor was laying at the end of his cot, waiting for him to shoulder the burden of the Republic again. Maybe those Senators who had spoken out about the Republic were right. Maybe, things were falling apart far too quickly for anyone to put them back together, even the jedi.


End file.
